Tag: vegetable literacy

Hi folks,
We made it. Twenty-one straight weeks of real, good, food. We know, it wasn’t always easy, there were probably times where you let a kohlrabi sit in the bottom drawer of your fridge for weeks until it krinkled up like a shrunken head. We forgive you for that. It happens. You did your best! You ate so much good food! And you had to actually take the time to cook to do so. Give yourselves a pat on the back, folks. Any amount of time spent devoted to cooking and eating good food can seem impossible in this busy, modern world that we’ve constructed, but you made it happen. Celebrate! With more vegetables!

This last box is a good one. Black radishes are like the new-age susty* jack’o’lantern as they can be carved into intricate skulls for any day of the dead celebration, before eventually being consumed, of course. They have an intense, feel-it-in-your-nose kind of wasabi heat that only a brassica root knows how to give you. Polish people that I did not know lived in Oregon come and find us at market just for these radishes, so they must be pretty good… But of course you also have a pie pumpkin this week, so you could always keep it old school and carve that up before making a brilliant pie creation as well. The possibilities are endless.

Thanks so much for supporting us this season. Farming is no easy task, and community support is required for it to function. And thanks so much to everyone who read any or all of these newsletters! It’s been lovely sharing some of our experiences on the farm with you this season. You’ve been a fabulous audience, and we hope to see you again next season.

Best, Laura Bennett

*Susty is short for sustainable, but more like how a hipster says it

Table of Box Contents

Black Radish—Black radishes are like watermelon radishes’ evil twin, with a much stronger bite that is almost medicinal. Radish dichotomies the likes of which have never been known. These radishes are excellent shredded into salads and eaten raw for maximum nutritive content, but they can also be mellowed nicely when roasted or caramelized (see recipe). Black radishes also make for a great pickle! Add cider vinegar, water, honey, and your spices of choice for a crisp mellowed experience.

Parsnips—These sweet roots are similar to a carrot or a sweet potato, and can be utilized in similar ways. I especially love to chop thin parsnip sticks to make pan-fried parsnip fries (you only need a half-inch of oil, but you can only do one layer at a time) dipped in aioli (see past recipes).

Thyme—Hang and let dry to use over time.

Bok Choy—Fall’s crisp offering to replace lettuce

Shallots—Those garlic x onion crosses that make your eyes water with a fury no regular onion can muster. Excellent used with or instead of onions in any dish.

Pie Pumpkin—For anyone who has never made a pumpkin pie, please take this as a sign that you should do so. It’s really not that hard. Just buy a crust, look up a recipe, and make the filling, we won’t judge you. Enjoy!

Lacinato Kale—Also known as black kale, Lacinato has savoy cabbage genes which are responsible for its unique, rumply, thick leaves. I like to make many thin slices down the leaves to break them down into small pieces before braising and then dressing. Caesar dressing goes great! It’s just as easy to make as aioli in a mason jar.

Assemble salad: place quinoa in a large bowl. Layer collards and roasted veggies. Sprinkle with pumpkin seeds and cranberries. Drizzle juice from 1/2 lemon and olive oil and salt and pepper to taste. Alternatively, use dressing of your choice! ENJOY!

Instructions

In a large wok, heat 2 tablespoon of canola oil over high heat. Season beef with salt and pepper and add to wok. Cook for 2-4 minutes, until meat has browned. Transfer meat to a large bowl and stir in hoisin sauce. Cover and set aside.

Pour out extra liquid from wok. Lower heat to medium high, then add remaining canola oil to wok. Add in garlic, scallions, and ginger and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add in turnips and bok choy stems. Cook until stems soften, about 5 minutes, then add in bok choy greens. Pour in soy sauce and Sriracha, then cook about 2-4 more minutes, until greens are wilted. Adjust salt to taste.

We cannot believe that there is only one more week of CSA after this! We’ve been thoroughly enjoying the rare, warm, sunny October days out in the fields. Any October day in Oregon that doesn’t require full rain gear is a very good day. This week you have celery in your box. You’ve already received celery root – celery’s staut, hardy cousin – but I thought it would be interesting to take a look at some other vegetables in the celery family who all have similar flavor profiles, growth habits, and flower structures, known botanically as the inflorescence.

The celery family is known as Apiaceae, and is home to carrots, parsnips, parsley roots, parsley, cilantro, dill, fennel, lovage, and other such aromatic plants that don’t grow as well in our climate such as caraway and cumin. The familiy is also home to various weeds such as queen anne’s lace, poison hemlock, and cow parsnip, a tall weed that you find growing near water in Oregon.

One leading feature that ties this plant family together is the flower structure, known as an umbel. And to follow along with our theme of fractals from last week, Apieaceae flowers are often made of compound umbels—an umbel made of umbels. When you see an umbel, that you will now able to site ID a plant family! Take a peak into the world and see if you can spot Apiaceae on your plate or on the ground.

Best, Laura Bennett

Table of Box Contents

Celery—First of the season folks, woo! Don’t believe the gossip about celery taking more energy to chew than you get from eating it; they’re blasphemous lies. Most vegetables decrease in their nutritive content when cooked, but celery retains most of its nutrition and is therefore a great addition to soups and stir-fries, in addition to being crunchy and refreshing raw.

Delicata Squash

Butternut Squash

Cauliflower—This week you’ll be receiving either a green or white cauliflower.

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375° F and coat a large cookie sheet with olive oil.

Sprinkle each half of butternut squash with salt and pepper and lay cut side down on cookie sheet. Bake for about an hour until fork tender. Let cool for a bit and peel skin off, I used an old grapefruit spoon, but you could use a paring knife. Cut into chunks.

While butternut squash is roasting you can get started on the soup. In a large heavy bottomed pot heat up coconut oil at medium heat. Add the onions, garlic, and ginger and sauté till onion turns translucent (about 8 minutes). Add the red pepper and jalapeño. Season with salt and pepper and cook for about another 10 minutes (stirring and taking care not to burn).

Add in soy sauce, red curry paste, garam masala/curry powder and stir to coat. Add the coconut milk, veggie broth, and 2 1/2 of the roasted butternut squashes and stir to combine. I used my potato masher to further mash up the butternut squash.

Bring to a boil and simmer for approximately 30 minutes. Puree if desired in batches in blender. Return to pot and add extra broth depending on how thick/thin you want it to be and season to taste. When ready to serve, sprinkle the cilantro over it.

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Chard Agrodolce

Adapted from Food52 recipe:

https://food52.com/recipes/14237-chard-agrodolce

Ingredients

1bunchRainbow Chard or Swiss Chard, stems and leaves separated, with stems chopped into 2- to 3-inch pieces and leaves chopped into thirds

1tbspextra virgin Olive Oil (or butter)

1pinchSalt

1/4cupChicken Stock

1/4cupWhite Wine

2tbspWhite Wine Vinegar

2tbspHoney

2tbspToasted Pine Nuts (optional)

Instructions

Sauté the chard stems in the olive oil and a little salt until they start to break down, about 6 to 8 minutes.

Add the stock and wine and let them cook down for about 5 to 6 minutes, then add the chard leaves. Once they have wilted, add the vinegar and honey.

Let it cook down until the liquid has mostly evaporated and the chard is soft. You can add some toasted pine nuts over the top if you want some added crunch.

This week’s box is home to a very special guest—Romanesco. This unique fractaled beauty is a very direct view into the ways in which plant growth is defined by mathematical laws. Fractals are infinite patterns that repeat at multiple scales. Staring in at the florets of a romanesco you can get lost in the same way as you can with computer-generated fractal images.

Once upon a time I was fairly obsessed with fractals. I played around with geometry any time that I had a pen, constructing logarithmic spirals that obeyed the same laws of the Fibonnacci sequence (1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13…) that cells and leaves and branches must obey as plants grow. The arrangement of leaves on a stem, of stems on a branch, and of branches on a full plant is known botanically as phyllotaxy. These arrangements allow for leaves and branches to occupy their own space and maximize sunlight exposure without shading one another. Modern engineers even copy this organization to create hip highrises with balconies that each have privacy and a nice view. All plants obey these laws of nature, but certain plants such as romanesco are simply good at flaunting it. Just a little piece of farming that is often never seen.

Best, Laura Bennett

Table of Box Contents

Romanesco—This is probably the coolest vegetable you’ll ever see. Its fractal structure looks like it was digitally created with the Mandelbrot set when in fact it is just a product of nature. Its texture is quite like cauliflower but with a nuttier flavor. Cut the spears off stem by stem to maintain their perfect fractal shape.

Buttercup Squash—Buttercup squash is moist like a sweet meat squash with a Kabocha-like chestnut flavor. The blue stem end is known as a turban and makes this squash very nice for stuffing with a lid.

Watermelon Radish—We started growing this radish a few years ago and it has been a farm favorite ever since. It is a large radish that is pale green on the outside with a pink burst center. The flavor varies throughout the season, but they can range from mild to quite spicy depending on the weather. Their texture however is consistently crisp and refreshing.

Savoy Cabbage—When a leaf is said to be savoyed, it means that it’s rumply, like lacinato kale, which has savoy cabbage genes in its history. These rumples allow for many nooks and crannies to be filled with soups and sauces, making for a particularly delicious cabbage experience and textural delight.

Red Russian Kale

Cilantro

Bunched Carrots

Nicola Potatoes

Pepper Surprise

Dried Sweet Onions

Red Leaf Lettuce

Tomato

Recipes

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Vegetarian Stuffed Buttercup Squash

Adapted from https://all-thats-jas.com/buttercup-squash.html

Ingredients

1Buttercup Squash, about 3 to 3 1/2 pounds

3tbspOlive Oil, divided

1/2cupQuinoa

1Onion, finely chopped

8ozCrimini (Baby Bella) Mushrooms, quartered

2large leaves of Kale, stem removed and finely chopped

2tbspWhite Wine or Water

Salt & Pepper to taste

1/2tspDried Cranberries

1/4cupRaw Almonds

2stemsfresh Parsley, finely chopped

2-3ozfeta cheese (optional)

Instructions

Cut a hole on top of the squash, shaping a lid by inserting your knife on an angle. Discard seeds and loose fibers. Rub the inside with some oil. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

Place quinoa in a saucepan and cover with 1 cup water. Bring to a boil, lower the heat immediately and let gently simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat, cover and set aside for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat the remaining oil in a large skillet. Sauté the onions, mushrooms, and kale until soft, 3-5 minutes.

Add the wine, thyme, salt, and pepper and cook for about 5 more minutes. When the liquid is almost evaporated, add cranberries, almonds, and parsley. Stir to combine. Taste and adjust the flavors.

Remove the skillet from the heat and stir in the cooked quinoa. Add the crumbled feta cheese and toss to combine. Fill the buttercup squash with the quinoa stuffing.

Place the squash on a baking sheet. Replace the lid on top and bake for about an hour, depending on the oven and on the size and type of the squash. Check the squash flesh with a knife from time to time and stir around the stuffing with a spoon.

The squash is ready when skin is browned and bubbly and the flesh is soft. Garnish with parsley and feta.

Instructions

Drop the garlic and thyme into a small saucepan, add the butter and melt over low heat. Simmer the garlic (pulling the pan off the heat if the butter ever bubbles actively) until it's softened, about 10 minutes.

Add the anchovies and mash with a wooden spoon to dissolve them. Stir in the olive oil and let heat through. Season with salt -- taste as you go! (LB addition—I also stir in extra olive oil and spicy pepper flakes)

Whisk in the buttermilk. Serve with a platter of vegetables. Kalamata olive bread is also traditionally served with this dish.

We can’t believe it’s already week eighteen! There are only three more weeks of CSA to go after this! Our cauliflower, broccoli, and romanesco game is on point with some of the biggest and most pristine florets that I’ve ever seen. Brassicas will be stealing the spotlight for the next few weeks; they just love this weather. Though we might have icy fingers, muddy boots, and full-rain gear strapped on, you can see the dew-covered broccoli plants standing strong and almost glowing in the cool air.

Things are slowing down significantly out at the farm. We moved our start time to a luxurious 7:30 am and the summer sensation of feeling rushed at all times has officially passed. Now we play the weather game where we wait as long as we can to harvest our winter storage roots so that they can sweeten up with cold temperatures, but not too long into the rainy season that the ground is too wet to work with. Our sunchoke patch is bursting with ten-foot tall sunflowers, the last hurrah of their growth cycle before root harvest. I can’t wait for those savory mushroom-like morsels! Even when things seem like they are coming to an end, there are still so many beginnings to look forward to.

Best, Laura Bennett

Table of Box Contents

Delicata—Delicata is particularly versatile, being incredibly sweet and easy to cut into a variety of shapes. You can bake them as boats or roast them in stuffed halves. My favorite is to slice them into half-moon shapes and sauté them with garlic and poblanos, and serve with fried eggs & chili oil.

Jester—This flashy squash is a cross between acorn squash and delicata, and as you can see it has the shape of an acorn and the coloring of delicata. I find myself using it more like an acorn squash, cooking it like my mother did by baking it in halves with brown sugar, butter, and bacon, but there are a thousand better ways to utilize it as well! The skin isn’t quite as delicate as delicata, but it’s not the toughest either, so munch if you feel so inclined.

Cauliflower—Cauliflower is the vegan dream! You can make the creamiest sauces, dips, and dressings with blended cauliflower (both steamed and raw) that are completely dairy free. I once was quite skeptical of some vegan chicken wings that were served to me until I realized that they were just fried cauliflower in a tasty wing sauce—it was SO GOOD (see link: https://food52.com/recipes/39759-general-tso-s-cauliflower). And as always, you can just chop up some little white trees and enjoy them raw in their sweetest, crunchiest form.

Dried Shallot

Lacinato (Black Kale)

Bunched Carrots

Harvest Moon Potatoes

Sweet Red Italian & Orange Bell Pepper

Dried Sweet Onions

Red Leaf Lettuce

Recipes

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Fall Greens w/ Delicata Squash, Caramelized Apples, and Bacon

“Hearty greens such as kale, mustard, and chicory are necessary to support the weight and bold flavors of the salad’s other ingredients: crescents of roasted squash, smoky bacon, sweet caramelized apples and onions, and the slightly sharp acidity of cider vinegar. Search for a mix of the young, smaller leaves of the robust greens rather than the more mature large leaves. If ever a salad smelled and tasted like autumn, this is it!” —Adapted from Erika Reagor’s recipe in the Portland Farmers Market Cookbook, p 137

Ingredients

1small Delicata/Jester Squash

4cupsBlack Kale, sliced thinly

4-6ozthickly sliced Bacon

1firm, tart Apple, such as Pink Lady, skin on, thinly sliced

1/2large Onion, thinly sliced (~1 cup)

2tspDijon Mustard

1tspHoney

3tbspApple Cider Vinegar, divided

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line 2 sheets with parchment paper or aluminum foil and set them aside.

Cut the squash in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds with a large spoon. Slice each half into ¼ -inch half moons and add them to a small bowl with 1 tablespoon of the oil, the salt, and a few grinds of black pepper. Toss the squash pieces until they’re evenly coated, spread them in a layer on one of the baking sheets, and bake them until they are tender and lightly caramelized, but not mushy, 12-15 minutes.

Meanwhile, lay the bacon slices 1 inch apart on the other baking sheet. Put the sheet in the oven with the squash and cook the bacon for 10 minutes. Rotate the pan front to back and cook the bacon until it is crispy, 3-5 more minutes. Remove the bacon to a plate lined with paper towels to drain and cool completely.

In a large sauté pan over medium-high heat, melt 2 tablespoons of the butter. When the butter begins to foam and bubble, add the apples and a pinch of salt. Sauté until the apple slices are tender and lightly browned, 5-8 minutes. Stir in 1 tablespoon of the vinegar and remove the apples to a large serving bowl.

Return the sauté pan to the heat, reduce the heat to medium-low, and add the remaining 2 tablespoons butter. When it begins to bubble, add the onions and pinch of salt. Cook the onions until they’re very soft, lightly golden, and sweet-tasting, 20-30 minutes. Add 1 tablespoon of the vinegar, toss to coat the onions, and add them to the bowl with the apples.

In a small bowl, whisk together the remaining 1 tablespoon vinegar with the mustard and honey. Slowly drizzle in the remaining 3 tablespoons of oil, whisking to combine. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

To serve, add the greens to the bowl with the apples and onions. Crumble in the bacon pieces and add the squash. Toss the salad with the dressing to coat the ingredients and season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve immediately.

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Potato Hash with Sweet Peppers & Onions

Adapted from http://www.thecomfortofcooking.com/2012/09/potato-hash-with-bell-peppers-and-onions.html

Ingredients

2tbspOlive Oil

1tbspUnsalted Butter

6medium Potatoes, cut into 1/2" cubes

1Onion, diced

1Sweet Bell Pepper, diced

2tspfresh Parsley, chopped

3clovesGarlic, minced

Salt and Pepper, to taste

1/4cupParmesan, freshly grated

Instructions

Preheat the oil and butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add potatoes, toss to coat with oil, and place a lid on the pan. Allow the potatoes to cook covered for 10 minutes.

Remove the lid and increase the heat to medium high. Add onion and bell pepper. Cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes and vegetables turn golden brown.

Add the parsley and garlic; cook for 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with Parmesan and serve immediately.

(LB Addition) Then plop a couple fried eggs on there, and you’ll be set.

Welcome to October! Owners John and Sally wanted me to pass a few messages along to you all this week. John said that he’s spoken with quite a few CSA customers this season who have never been to our restaurant before, so for the remainder of the season all CSA customers are welcome to dine at our restaurant with 10% off for their entire party’s meal. We are open for lunch Tue-Fri 11-2, dinner Thu-Sat 5-9, and for breakfast Sat 9-2, but our farmstand is open for shopping Tue-Sat 9-5.

For those of you who don’t know, we have a restaurant that we call the Farmstand on our farm base, attached to the same building that we wash and pack all of our produce out of. We make all our own pastries and bake our own bread every morning, and have a tireless kitchen crew working to celebrate the vegetables we grow through new flavor combinations every week. The servers are simply lovely and adore talking to customers about all things food, farm, and friends. Our restaurant closes for the winter in mid-November, so we hope to see you soon!

Also, now that we’re in October, it’s time for our CSA members to come out to the pumpkin patch! Our jack-o-lantern crop struggled a bit this year, so unfortunately they are first come first serve, and we ask that people take just one pumpkin per family, or one per child for families with more than one. Thanks for understanding. Just come to the Farmstand anytime between now and Halloween during open hours (Tues-Sat 9am-5pm) and tell our servers that you’re a CSA customer here to hit up the pumpkin patch. They will offer everyone in your family a free, house-made potato doughnut and show you the way to our patch o’ pumpkins. Please feel free to waltz around the farm and take a look at the vegetables that will soon be on your plates!

Best, Laura Bennett

Table of Box Contents

Scarlet Kabocha!!!—Although Delicata might be our most popular squash, Kabocha is my personal favorite. I think of them as giant chestnuts, with a nutty savory flavor and a dry yet creamy texture. As with all winter squash, Kabocha is excellent roasted and served simply with oil, salt, and pepper. However, just like Delicata, my favorite way to prepare it is fried in the frying pan. Cut into small pieces, it takes hardly ten minutes to cook.

Parsley Root!!—Not a parsnip, parsley root. Parsnips are more sweet-dominant whereas parsley root is more savory-dominant with a particularly parsley-like flavor. Of all the lesser known roots that GTF grows, celeriac (from last week), sunchokes (to come), and parsley root are my favorites!

Bunched Turnips!—Radishes made their debut at market this past Saturday, and now turnips are making their seasonal debut in your box! These juicy orbs are excellent sliced thin and enjoyed raw, but are also great lightly sautéed with their greens in tamari and served with rice.

Collard Greens—These greens are tougher than most. Try cutting the leaves in half down the center and then making a stack to cut into very thin strips. The smaller pieces (sautéed in butter) will become soft and delicate.

Purple Potatoes

Leeks

Bunched Red Beets

Pepper Party, Continued

1 Sweet Red Ruffle Pimento

1 Anaheim—slight kick

1 Sweet Yellow Bell

Sweet Onion

Green Leaf Lettuce

Tomato Surprise—romas or a slicer

Recipes

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Stuffed Collard Greens

Collard greens are great leaves to stuff. They remind me a bit of grape leaves, though they don’t need to be brined before you stuff them. Just remove the stems, blanch them, fill and cook like cabbage leaves. I used medium-grain Cal-Rose rice that I bought at my local Iranian market for these; this type of rice is perfect for stuffing grape leaves and vegetables, the package told me, because it doesn’t swell when cooking and won’t break the leaf. https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/12464-stuffed-collard-greens

Ingredients

1large bunchCollard Greens (about 1 1/2 lbs), stemmed

1/4cupOlive Oil

1largeYellow Onion, finely chopped

Salt & Pepper to taste

1 1/4cupsmedium-grain Rice, rinsed and drained

3tbspPine Nuts

2-3clovesGarlic (to taste), minced

1/3cupFresh Dill, chopped

1/3cupMint, finely chopped

1/2cupFlat-Leaf Parsley, finely chopped

1/3-1/2cupLemon Juice, strained, freshly-squeezed

2tbspTomato Paste

1Lemon, sliced (optional)

Instructions

Bring a large pot of water to a boil while you carefully stem the collard greens, trying to keep the leaves intact. Fill a bowl with ice water. When the water comes to a boil, salt generously and add the collard leaves, in batches. Blanch for 2 minutes and transfer to the ice water. Drain, gently squeeze out excess water and set aside.

Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil over medium-low heat in a large nonstick skillet and add the onions and a pinch of salt. Cook, stirring, until the onion is tender but not browned, 5 to 8 minutes. Add the pine nuts and garlic, stir together and add the drained rinsed rice. Stir for a minute or two, until you hear the rice begin to crackle, then remove from the heat. Toss with the herbs, salt and pepper, and 1 tablespoon olive oil. To gauge how much salt you will need, use the amount that you would use when cooking 1 1/4 cups of rice.

Oil a wide, deep lidded sauté pan or saucepan with olive oil. To fill the leaves, place one on your work surface, vein side up and with the stem end facing you. The leaf may have a big space in the middle where you stemmed it; if it does, pull the two sides of the leaf in toward each other and overlap them slightly. Place about 1 level tablespoon of filling on the bottom center of each leaf. Fold the sides over, then roll up tightly, tucking in the sides as you go. Place in the pan, seam side down, fitting the stuffed leaves in snug layers.

Whisk together the lemon juice, remaining oil, and tomato paste with 2 tablespoons water. Season to taste with salt. Pour over the rolls. Add enough water to barely cover the rolls and top with a layer of lemon slices if desired. They will add some bitterness to the dish because of the bitter oils in the lemon skin. Invert a plate over the rolls to keep them wrapped and in position, and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Cover the pan, turn the heat to low and simmer for 1 hour, at which point the leaves will be tender and the rice cooked. Remove from the heat and carefully remove the stuffed leaves from the water to a platter or to plates with a slotted spoon or tongs. Allow to cool for at least 15 minutes. Taste the liquid left in the pot and adjust seasonings. Serve the rolls warm or at room temperature with the liquid from the pot as a sauce.

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Stir-fried Kabocha Squash

Kabocha and other large squashes lend themselves to easy baking, but being limited to a frying pan at market forces me to cook in creative ways. Trust me, if you stir fry kabocha once, you might never go back. Cooking it in the frying pan takes hardly ten minutes, as there is very little water to cook out, and you end up with bites of creamy squash encased within crisp edges. http://blog.gatheringtogetherfarm.com/2017/10/10/csa-2017-week-18-flavors-fall

Ingredients

1Kabocha Squash, sliced thinly thinly (you can decide if you'd like to shave the skin off first with your knife; scarlet kabocha skin is often soft enough to leave on, but the green squashes you have this week may have thicker skins)

1Sweet Onion, sliced thinly

1Sweet Pepper, sliced thinly

1/2headGarlic

Coconut Oil

Salt & Pepper

Instructions

Cutting up the big kabocha squash while it’s raw is the hardest part of this recipe. Be safe, take your time, and don’t chop your fingers off however tempting it may be. Follow the chopping tutorial in the link above if needed.

Finely chop your onion.

Heat a pan of oil up to medium-low temp and add in the onions, letting cook 2-4 minutes.